NTIA
Applicants For Stimulus Funds Should Expect A Long Wait; ACORN Deemed Ineligible
WASHINGTON, November 3, 2009 – Between the government’s slowness in announcing recipients of its broadband stimulus grants and the process of dolling out the funds once the awards have been made, applicants can expect a long wait ahead of them. The NTIA will not announce who will receive the first broadband stimulus grants until at least mid-December, according to an NTIA spokeswoman. The agency then plans to announce more awardees on a rolling basis, she added.
WASHINGTON, November 3, 2009 – Between the government’s slowness in announcing recipients of its broadband stimulus grants and the process of dolling out the funds once the awards have been made, applicants can expect a long wait ahead of them.
The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, one of the government agencies Congress charged in January with distributing $7.2 billion to expand broadband deployment and adoption, will not announce who will receive the first broadband stimulus grants until at least mid-December, according to an NTIA spokeswoman. The agency then plans to announce more awardees on a rolling basis, she added.
The only group that knows for certain that it won’t be getting funds is the controversial ACORN Institute, which describes itself as a group that uses “research and training to address the problems in low-income communities identified through years of community organizing.”
Its applications have been deemed “ineligible for funding” by the NTIA. See the listing on NTIA’s Broadbandusa.gov web site.
The ACORN Institutes de-funding is the result of guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget to executive branch agencies cutting off funding to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations.
“To the extent your agency already has determined that funds should be obligated or awarded to ACORN or its affiliates but has not yet entered into any agreement to provide such funds to ACORN or any of its affiliates, your agency should not provide such funds, or enter into any such agreements to do so,” the document reads.
The move by OMB was a result of Congressional action to block funding to the group after videos emerged that appeared to show ACORN workers advising illegal activities, according to news reports. A spokesperson from ACORN did not provide any on the record comment by deadline. The videos were not the first concern related to the group’s activities that has emerged over the past few years.
With respect to other organizations, once a recipient of the stimulus funding is named, the agency plans to complete all the required paperwork and deliver the funds within 60 days of the announcement, according to a July notice (PDF) in the Federal Register.
The agency originally intended to start announcing grant recipients in November, but Larry Strickling, head of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, told lawmakers during an oversight hearing on October 27 that the program has been falling behind.
“Given the large number of complex applications and the very voluminous amount of information that we need to review, we have decided to expand our review period,” Strickling said.
“And we are now targeting our first grant awards for mid-December, about a month later than we originally projected last July when we announced the first round of funding. Similarly, we will not conclude the first round of funding at the end of this year as we had originally hoped,” Strickling continued.
“But, we expect to do so in February of next year. I’m confident that by expanding our first round review period we will maximize the significant and lasting improvements in America’s technological innovation and economic health promised by our program,” he added.
During the hearing, many lawmakers cited the challenges that NTIA and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service have faced in evaluating applications and awarding funding.
About BroadbandCensus.com
BroadbandCensus.com was launched in January 2008, and uses “crowdsourcing” to collect the Broadband SPARC: Speeds, Prices, Availability, Reliability and Competition. The news on BroadbandCensus.com is produced by Broadband Census News LLC, a subsidiary of Broadband Census LLC that was created in July 2009.
A recent split of operations helps to clarify the mission of BroadbandCensus.com. Broadband Census Data LLC offers commercial broadband verification services to cities, states, carriers and broadband users. Created in July 2009, Broadband Census Data LLC produced a joint application in the NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program with Virginia Tech’s eCorridors Program. In August 2009, BroadbandCensus.com released a beta map of Columbia, South Carolina, in partnership with Benedict-Allen Community Development Corporation.
Broadband Census News LLC offers daily and weekly reporting, as well as the Broadband Breakfast Club. The Broadband Breakfast Club has been inviting top experts and policy-makers to share breakfast and perspectives on broadband technology and internet policy since October 2008. Both Broadband Census News LLC and Broadband Census Data LLC are subsidiaries of Broadband Census LLC, and are organized in the Commonwealth of Virginia. About BroadbandCensus.com.
Digital Inclusion
NTIA Seeks Comment on How to Spend $2.5 Billion in Digital Equity Act
National Telecommunications and Information Administration is seeking comment on how to structure the programs.

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2023 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Wednesday that it is seeking comment on how to structure the $2.5 billion that the Digital Equity Act provides to promote digital equity and inclusion.
As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Digital Equity Act consists of two sub-programs, the State Digital Equity Capacity grant and the Digital Equity Competitive grant. Comments will guide how the NTIA will design, regulate, and evaluate criteria for both programs.
“We need to hear directly from those who are most impacted by the systemic barriers that prevent some from fully utilizing the Internet,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said Wednesday at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance’s Net Inclusion event in San Antonio.
See Commerce Secretary Raimondo’s remarks at Net Inclusion:
The request for comment is part of NTIA’s strategy to hear diverse perspectives in implementing its goal to ensure every American has the skills and capacity needed to reap the benefits of the digital economy, stated a press release.
The $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity grant will fund implementation of state digital equity plans which will strategically plan how to overcome barriers faced by communities seeking to achieve digital equity.
Simply making investments in broadband builds is not enough, said Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of ConnectLA, speaking at a Brookings Insitution event in December. Bringing digital equity means “driving adoption, digital skills, and doing the kinds of things that we need to do to tackle the digital divide.”
The $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive grant program will fund anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries, and nonprofits, in offering digital inclusion activities that promote internet adoption.
“Community-anchor institutions have been and are the connective tissue that make delivering high-speed internet access possible,” said Alan Davidson, head of the NTIA at AnchorNets 2022 conference.
This announcement follows dissent on the definition of digital discrimination. Commenters to the Federal Communications Commission disagree on whether the intent of a provider should be considered when determining if the provider participated in digital discrimination. There has been no response from the FCC.
5G
Innovation Fund’s Global Approach May Improve O-RAN Deployment: Commenters
The $1.5 billion Innovation Fund should be used to promote global adoption, say commenters.

WASHINGTON, February 2, 2023 – A global approach to funding open radio access networks will improve its success in the United States, say commenters to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The NTIA is seeking comment on how to implement the $1.5 billion appropriated to the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund as directed by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The grant program is primarily responsible for supporting the promotion and deployment of open, interoperable, and standards-based radio access networks.
Radio access networks provide critical technology to connect users to the mobile network over radio waves. O-RAN would create a more open ecosystem of network equipment that would otherwise be reliant on proprietary technology from a handful of companies.
Global RAN
Commenters to the NTIA argue that in order for O-RAN to be successful, it must be global. The Administration must take a “global approach” when funding projects by awarding money to those companies that are non-U.S.-based, said mobile provider Verizon in its comments.
To date, new entrants into the RAN market have been the center for O-RAN development, claimed wireless service provider, US Cellular. The company encouraged the NTIA to “invest in proven RAN vendors from allied nations, rather than focusing its efforts on new entrants and smaller players that lack operational expertise and experience.”
Korean-based Samsung Electrontics added that by allowing trusted entities with a significant U.S. presence to compete for project funding and partner on those projects, the NTIA will support standardizing interoperability “evolution by advancing a diverse global market of trusted suppliers in the U.S.”
O-RAN must be globally standardized and globally interoperable, Verizon said. Funding from the Public Wireless Innovation Fund will help the RAN ecosystem mature as it desperately needs, it added.
Research and development
O-RAN continues to lack the maturity that is needed for commercial deployment, agreed US Cellular in its comments. The company indicated that the complexity and costliness of system integration results from there being multiple vendors that would need to integrate but are not ready for full integration.
Additionally, interoperability with existing RAN infrastructure requires bi-lateral agreements, customized integration, and significant testing prior to deployment, the comment read. The complicated process would result in O-RAN increasing the cost of vendor and infrastructure deployment, claimed US Cellular, directly contrary to the goals of O-RAN.
Several commenters urged the NTIA to focus funding projects on research and development rather than subsidizing commercial deployments.
The NTIA is already fully engaged in broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas through its Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, said Verizon. The Innovation Fund will better advance its goals by funding projects that accelerate the solving of remaining O-RAN technical challenges that continue to delay its deployment, it continued.
US Cellular argued that the NTIA should “spur deployment of additional independent testing and certification lab facilities… where an independent third party can perform end to end testing, conformance, and certification.”
The Innovation Fund should be used to focus on technology development and solving practical challenges, added wireless trade association, CTIA. Research can focus on interoperability, promotion of equipment that meets O-RAN specifications, and projects that support hardware design and energy efficiency, it said.
Furthermore, CTIA recommended that the Administration avoid interfering in how providers design their networks to encourage providers to adopt O-RAN in an appropriate manner for their company. Allowing a flexible, risk-based approach to O-RAN deployments will “help ensure network security and stability,” it wrote.
Funding
CES 2023: NTIA to Address Broadband, Spectrum, and Privacy, Says Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson asserted that marginalized communities are harmed disproportionately by privacy violations.

LAS VEGAS, January 7, 2023 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s 2023 priorities will include the funding and facilitation of states’ broadband deployment programs, the development of a national spectrum policy, and actions to protect the privacy of marginalized groups, said Administrator Alan Davidson at the Consumer Electronics Show on Saturday.
The NTIA’s most high-profile task is to oversee the operations of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, a $42.45 billion slush fund for broadband-infrastructure deployments which will be divided among the governments of states and U.S. territories. Those governments will administer final distribution of the BEAD funds in accordance with the NTIA’s guidelines.
“This is our generation’s big infrastructure moment,” Davidson said. “This is our chance to connect everybody in the country with what they need to thrive in the modern digital economy, and we are going to do it.”
Davidson reiterated his agency’s stated intention to develop a comprehensive national spectrum strategy to facilitate the various spectrum interests of government and private industry. To allocate spectrum in a manner that fulfills federal needs and stimulates the growth of innovators, largely in the sector of 5G, the NTIA – the administrator of federally used spectrum – must coordinate with the Federal Communications Commission – the administrator of other spectrum.
Calling for a national privacy law, Davidson asserted that marginalized communities are harmed disproportionately by privacy violations. He stated that the NTIA will, possibly within weeks, request public comment on “civil rights and privacy.”
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